Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973) was an award-winning American sculptor, best
known for her animal pieces and her large equestrian statues.

Born in Cambridge, Mass. on March 10, 1876, the daughter of noted palaeontologist,
naturalist, and Harvard professor, Alpheus Hyatt, she had planned to become a concert
violinist but was encouraged by her sister to try sculpture. She studied briefly under
H.E. Kitsen of Boston, and in the Art Students' League in New York, and received valuable
criticism from Gustav Borglum.
Other artists with whom she studied include Hermon Atkins MacNeil, George Grey Barnard,
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and Malvina Hoffman.

As early as 1898 she began to exhibit her work and by 1906 had established a reputation
as a fine sculptor of animals. She lived in Europe from 1906 to 1908 and again in
1910 when she won an honorable mention for her plaster model of Joan of Arc. She then
returned to America where she executed many commissions, several of monumental size,
such as the Joan of Arc which was placed along Riverside Drive in New York City.

In 1923 she became the second wife of Archer Milton Huntington, adopted son of Collis
P. Huntington who founded the Southern Pacific Railroad. Archer Huntington was vitally
interested in art, particularly Spanish art and culture; he encouraged his wife's
work and she came to share his love for Spain and its people. Despite a lengthy
bout with tuberculosis beginning in 1927, Anna continued to actively produce and
show her work after their marriage. In 1937 the Huntingtons moved from New York
City to Haverstraw, New York to an estate they called "Rocas," and then in 1940 to
an estate and farm near Bethel, Connecticut, which they called "Stanerigg." Here
Mrs. Huntington became interested in owning and breeding Scottish deerhounds and her
kennel at Stanerigg produced a number of award-winning dogs, but her main focus was
always her art. She continued to sculpt and produce fine pieces until illness forced
her to stop in 1972, and she died shortly thereafter in 1973.

Sculptors Marjorie Jay Daingerfield and Katherine Ward Lane Weems both studied with
her, and she was the
friend and collaborator of sculptor Abastenia St. Leger Eberle (whom she affectionately
called "Stennie") and a
colleague of artist Elizabeth Norton.

Particularly well-known are Mrs. Huntington's heroic equestrian statues. These include
El Cid (several locations including the Hispanic Society of America in New York and Seville,
Spain),
Young Andrew Jackson (Andrew Jackson State Park, Lancaster, South Carolina),
General Israel Putnam (Putnam Memorial Park, Redding, Connecticut), and
The Torchbearers (Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid). Her last major equestrian piece was a statue of
Cuban nationalist José Martí, which stands in New York's Central Park; the piece was
begun in the mid 1950s but due to the United States' difficult relations with Cuba
it was not unveiled until 1965.

Mrs. Huntington was an active member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters,
the National Academy of Design, and the National Sculpture Society, and gave generously
to numerous museums, charities and civic organizations. With her husband, she founded
Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina, a state preserve and sculpture garden, and the
Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia; the couple also donated 15,000 acres of
forestland in the central Adirondacks to the State University of New York College
of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). Mr. Huntington founded the Hispanic
Society and Museum in New York City, and Anna also actively supported this organization.

Mrs. Huntington received numerous awards and honors over her career, among them a
silver medal at the San Francisco Exposition in 1915, a gold medal in Philadelphia
in 1917, and the Saltus Gold Medal from the National Academy of Design. She became
a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1933, was named "Woman of the Americas" in
1958, and on her ninetieth birthday she received greetings from friends, fellow artists,
and admirers worldwide. Her sculpture is in the permanent collections of more
than 200 museums across the United States as well as overseas.

Artwork (original) consists of a few items by Anna (a medal and some sketches) and original artwork
by others, primarily sketches, drawings, watercolors, and so on. Original artwork
sent with correspondence was kept with it and may be found in the correspondence-subject
files under the surname of the correspondent.

Correspondence-subject files consists of correspondence with, and material related to, various individuals and
organizations. The correspondence of Anna's husband, Archer Milton Huntington,
has been merged into this series. The files include artists, authors, gallery owners,
friends and family, as well as notes from visitors to Brookgreen; art galleries, museums,
schools, cities, societies, charities, and so on; and topics ranging from blueprints
to maps. Of particular interest in this series are Anna's extensive correspondence
with her mother, Audella Hyatt (4 boxes spanning forty years), and her sister, Harriet
Hyatt Mayor (2 boxes spanning 60 years). Included also is material relating to Brookgreen
Gardens (6 boxes, including annual reports, bank statements, cash statements, a deed,
inventories, minutes, photographs, reports, and other material) and the Hispanic Society
of America (3 boxes). The 11 boxes of Scottish deerhound material reflect Anna's
intense interest in the breed.

Financial-legal files includes bank statements, files on trusts and deeds of gift, and Archer Milton Huntington's
financial notebooks; some papers relate to Brookgreen and the Hispanic Society of
America, and there are some legal papers relating to Collis P. Huntington's adopted
daughter (therefore Archer's adoptive sister) Clara Hatzfeldt.

Memorabilia is extensive and comprises address books, awards and certificates, daily calendars
for nearly fifty years, Anna's own diaries (39 volumes covering 1925-1965), membership
cards, passports, plaques, more than 25 scrapbooks, and secretary's diaries (1934-1945).
Miscellaneous items include Mrs. Huntington's honorary degree from the University
of South Carolina and a beautiful framed decree of honorary citizenship from Valencia,
Spain.

Photographs includes photographs of artwork (primarily Mrs. Huntington's but a few of others);
exhibits; family members and friends; family property (Atalaya, Rocas, Stanerigg,
various New York houses); and miscellaneous people (Francisco Franco, Jose Simeon
Canas, Robert Peary) and places (Africa, Monaco, Spain, New Orleans, Nashville).
Also included here are negatives, slides, photoplates (metal plates affixed to wooden
blocks) and three 16mm films. Some correspondence-subject files also contain photographs;
these are noted in the inventory below. Of particular interest, in Box 93, is a photograph
of a sculpture of a boy and a dog which is annotated on the back as "Anna V. Hyatt
and Harriet Randolph Hyatt, only piece done together." According to several sources,
this collaboration was Anna's first piece, and its acceptance for exhibition and subsequent
purchase encouraged her to give up the violin and turn her talents to sculpture.

Printed material consists of articles (about Anna, about family members, about others); books (about
Anna, about others, and one by Archer), clippings (about Anna, about family members,
about others); exhibit catalogs; press releases; and miscellaneous advertisements,
fliers, magazines, pamphlets, programs, and so on. A few of the magazines are in
French or Spanish.

Anna's
Reference files contain vast numbers of clippings, photographs, books, and magazines used by Anna
as reference for her sculptures.

Writings of others contains typescripts and manuscripts of articles, books, essays, poems, and other
pieces. The bulk of the material is that of Emile Schaub-Koch, a French art critic
who wrote extensively about Anna and her work. There are also a few poems by Archer
Milton Huntington. Some correspondence-subject files also contain original poems,
essays, or other writings; these are noted in the inventory below.

Deerhounds (1902-1957, 5 Boxes) were a long-time hobby of Mrs. Huntington. In the early 1930's,
she became interested in introducing the breed of Scottish deerhounds into the United
States. She maintained extensive kennels, bred the dogs, and showed them nationally.
Her dogs won many championships, and her kennels remained active until the 1950's.
This series includes subject files (American Kennel Club material, Deerhound Club
information, extensive records of Mrs. Huntington's kennels, scrapbooks, and other
material) and published material (magazine articles and clippings about deerhounds
and publicity material relating to the kennels).

In the interests of space, throughout the inventory Mrs. Huntington is referred to
as "AHH."

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require
advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance
concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before
publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

The finding aids file contains several family trees compiled by Special Collections
Research Center staff during processing. Although every effort has been made to confirm
names, dates and relationships, the charts should not be regarded as definitive.

Special Collections Research Center has the papers of numerous members of the Hyatt,
Mayor and Beebe families; please see our complete collection list under each surname
for these. See also the following collections:

AHH frequently gave multiple titles, or no title, to her work. For this reason, all
artwork is listed alphabetically by description of the main content. Title(s), if
known, are given following the description of the work.

Box 88

Abraham Lincoln

Box 88

Andrew Jackson

Box 88

Angel (1)

Box 88

Angel (2)

Box 88

Arabella Huntington memorial

Box 88

Archer Milton Huntington, bust

Box 88

Base of "The Thinker"
- base only; statue by another artist

Box 88

Bear with cubs, various

Box 88

Bears, group

Box 88

Bears, various

Oversize 8

Bears, oversize

Box 88

Boabdil, Hispanic Society

Box 88

Boy and crane

Box 88

Boy and fish

Box 88

Boy on seahorse (1)
- "Sketch for fountain - East Wind"

Box 88

Boy on seahorse (2)
- "Sketch for fountain - West Wind"

Box 88

Buffalo

Box 88

Bull, head

Box 88

Bull, charging

Box 88

Bulls, fighting

Box 88

Camel with rider
- "Ship of the Desert" ?

Box 88

Centaur, baby

Box 88

Centaur
- "Centaur Cheiron"

Oversize 9

Centaur, oversize
- "Centaur Cheiron"

Box 88

Centaur, female

Box 88

Centaurs, fighting

Box 88

Children, various

Oversize 12

Children, various oversize

Box 88

Collis P. Huntington, bust

Box 88

Collis P. Huntington, statue

Box 88

Collis P. Huntington, memorial

Box 88

Crane, angry
- "Angry Crane"

Box 88

Crane and young

Box 88

Cranes rising

Box 88

Deer, doe and fawn (1)

Box 88

Deer, doe and fawn (2)

Box 88

Deer, fawn

Box 88

Deer, fawn scratching

Box 88

Deer, fawns playing

Box 88

Deer, red stag (1)

Box 88

Deer, red stag (2)

Box 88

Deer, red stag, head

Box 88

Deer, red stags fighting

Box 88

Deer runnning

Box 88

Deerhound
- "Hound on the hill"

Box 88

Deerhound, head

Box 88

Deerhound, seated

Box 88

Deerhounds, group

Box 88

Diana
- "Diana of the Chase," "Young Diana"

Box 89

Dog, head
- "Police dog, head"

Box 89

Dog, lying down
- "Police dog lying down"

Box 89

Dog, sitting
- "Police dog sitting"

Box 89

Don Quixote
(2 folders)

Oversize 11

Don Quixote oversize

Box 89

Donkey, bucking

Box 89

Donkey, head

Box 89

Donkey with woman
- "Naples"

Box 89

Door panels (Hispanic Society?)

Box 89

Doors, Hispanic Society

Box 89

Duck

Box 89

Ducks (geese?)

Box 89

Eagle, head

Box 89

El Cid, statue

Box 89

El Cid, head

Box 89

Elephant
- "Alice"

Box 89

Elephant, running

Box 89

Elephants, fighting

Box 89

Elephants, mother and baby

Box 89

Elephants, various
- pair

Oversize 9

Elephants, various
- "Peanuts"

Box 89

Elk running

Box 89

Elk stag

Box 89

Faun child with goats

Box 89

Flagpole base

Box 89

Fox and bird

Box 89

Giraffe, mother and baby

Box 89

Goat, head (1)

Box 89

Goat, head (2)

Box 89

Goat, lying down

Box 89

Goat, scratching

Box 89

Goat, standing

Box 89

Goats, fighting

Box 89

Goats, various

Box 89

Goose, head

Box 89

Gorillas, various

Box 89

Great Dane, lying down (1)
- annotated on back, "Anna Hyatt Huntington, her first sculpture"